Thomson

X2 Stem Assembly

David — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:36:55 +0000

Occasionally we hear of bar slipping issues with X2. I have noticed recently that every bike I have looked at where the rider mentions slip has one thing in common. The handlebar clamps are installed wrong. You want the gap to be even top to bottom between the clamp and the stem body. If one gap is closed and all the gap is on the other side the effect is to lower clamping force by 10 to 50%. Visually evening the gaps is good enough, you don’t need to use feeler gauges. Installing the clamp crooked is also very hard on the threads in the stem body.

Picture on top shows the torque wrench with load applied to a test bar section in an X2 by Eric.
Bottom left is the correct install, bottom right is wrong.
The difference between the right and wrong installation is 10 to 50% less clamping force. All gap on top is the worst.

Bike Build #2 from Team Hardattack

David — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:28:18 +0000

36.4 Seatpost Collar

David — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:06:14 +0000

After long delays 36.4 seatpost collars are being manufactured for the first time. Another two weeks for anodize and laser marking and the 36.4 collars will be ready to ship to our distributors. Thanks for being patient.

Dropper Video

David — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:08:33 +0000

Saint Gobain made this video about our use of their bearing bushing in our new dropper post. It is a little inside baseball but you might enjoy.

Matt McCorkell Riding Video

David — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:02:05 +0000

Courtesy of the guys at SCV Imports, our Australian distributor. Really nice to see someone riding with a full Thomson cockpit!!

Small Parts Shopping Cart

David — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:34:31 +0000

You may now purchase small parts and accessories from us using the shopping cart located in the “Small Parts” section of our website. Shipping is via US mail and is a flat rate of $4.95.

Electric Avenue

David — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:53:41 +0000

Here is a video that was first shown at Eurobike 2012. Besides being great racers Heiko and company at Team Hardattack are fantastic videographers.

if this does not make you want to go ride, check yourself for a pulse.

New Bottom Clamp for Oversized Saddle Rails

David — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:56:37 +0000

7x7mm has been and continues to be the dominant standard for saddle rail size. Our standard seatpost clamps are optimized for 7x7mm rails. Now that rails are being made from carbon fiber many new saddles have rails that are from 7×9 to 7x10mm. Our existing clamps work, but it looks bad and you lose about five degrees of nose down adjustment.

The picture above shows our solution. We have designed, tested and released to production a new accessory bottom clamp. The silver bottom clamp in the picture is our standard bottom clamp. The black clamp is the new bottom clamp for over sized rails. The post in the picture is assembled on a Fizik saddle with 7 x 10.3mm carbon rails.

We will continue to ship seatposts with the existing bottom clamp as 7x7mm rails are still standard.

In about 90 days a new accessory clamp kit will be available for people to purchase for use with any Elite or Masterpiece post for use with over sized rails; retail $24.95. The new clamp set will be useful for anyone with over sized carbon saddle rails or for riders with over sized metal rails on a Downhill or BMX saddle.

Overdrive Stems

David — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:59:23 +0000

A few bike companies are shipping new bikes with the “Overdrive” standard stem. This means a 1.250 inch steerer tube instead of the now standard 1.125 inch steerer. It also can mean a 35mm diameter handlebar clamp instead of 31.8mm.

People have been asking us if we will build Overdrive stems and the answer is probably. We will survey OEM’s at Eurobike, Interbike and Taichung Bike Week before we make a decision. The standard may not catch on so we will wait. There is no advantage to the 35mm bar until you get to 780mm widths and at that point only the fatigue life is better, but the stiffness claims are overblown. 31.8 bars can be built very stiff. Stiffness has to be tempered with flex or you will just knock your fillings out!

Dropper Install

David — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:07:51 +0000

Plans to start shipping the dropper in early April still look good. We have detailed specifications and user instructions already up on the dropper page of the website as well as some preliminary FAQ’s.

I would like to cover one aspect of installation. The remote lever cable and housing will need to be cut to the proper length for your bike. This is best left to a professional mechanic. If you choose to do this yourself you must have a pair of cable and housing cutters and a way to deburr the housing ends after cutting. You will then need to run the cable through the cam lever at the top of the post and set the cable tension correctly. You will need a 1.5mm allen wrench to fix the cable in position and a 2.5mm allen wrench to tighten the remote lever on the bar.

If you are a good mechanic, have the right tools, and want to do your own work that’s great. If you are unsure of your abilities and/or don’t have the right tools, please have the local bike shop do the work for you.